He Never Changed
by Dark Fairy
Summary: He wasn’t always like his father. Once, he was different. There was a time when she knew that there was more to him than just another Malfoy. There was a time before everything was different, when he was just Draco. It turns out some things never change.


**He Never Changed**

**Summary**: He wasn't always like his father. Once, he was different. There was a time when she knew that there was more to him than just another Malfoy. There was a time before everything was different, when he was just Draco. It turns out some things never change.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.

This is the first story I've ever posted! Please read and review, but don't be too harsh, since it's my first try.

She was walking back from the library, having just finished all her homework for the next couple weeks. It was past curfew. _Maybe I'll do some extra studying once I get back to the common room. _She thought.

She sped up, not wanting to be caught out of bed after hours. She was nearing the Gryffindor tower when she heard a noise. She went into the shadows and stood still, listening, but she heard nothing more. She was just about to continue on when a hand went over her mouth snaked around her waist.

She tried to scream, but was muffled by the person's hand. She struggled to get loose, but could not.

"Stop squirming Granger." A voice said in her ear.

She froze. It was _him. _The one who filled her dreams. The one whom she hated, but also loved. The one who scared her, but also intrigued her. Though she would never admit that to anyone. He was always there in her thoughts, despite the efforts she made to make those thoughts disappear.

She closed her eyes and tried to gain some semblance of control over her emotions. When she opened them again, she realized that he had dragged her to a broom cupboard and had pulled her in. He pushed her against the wall, in order to keep her still. He took his hand off her mouth, but kept a hold on her waist. She tried to break free, but his grip with too strong.

"Let go of me Malfoy." She said firmly. "You don't scare me."

He smirked but said nothing, just held her there against the wall.

"What do you want?" she asked urgently.

"Oh nothing much, just this." He replied, before kissing her long and hard on the lips. His arms pulled her closer against him, and preventing her from moving. Not like she could, considering she was completely petrified with surprise. She didn't kiss him back, just stood there, heart beating a mile a minute. He finally broke away.

"What's wrong Granger? I know you want this just as much as I do. "

She looked into his grey eyes. She expected to see hate, malice or lust. But instead she saw something that surprised her even more than his previous actions. She saw _love._ That was one thing she never expected. It was unmistakable in his eyes, and it puzzled her.

"I- I don't understand." She said hesitantly.

"Did you ever doubt it?" he asked her sincerely. He looked down at his feet. "I tried to stop it. I tried to deny it. But I can't. Can you doubt it?" he repeated, looking back into her eyes.

Now that she thought about it, she couldn't doubt it. The signs had always been there. They had been there for years. Since the first time they had seen each other. They had been younger then, and naive. It was before they had been forced apart reasons they couldn't control.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o

_Flourish and Blotts was filled with people, but Hermione took no notice of them. She was too immersed in trying to find the books required for her new school. She was still finding it hard to believe. Imagine! Her, a witch! To say she was surprised when she got the news would be an understatement. But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. It would explain a lot, like how she could do strange unexplainable things for as long as she could remember. _

_She was having trouble finding the last book on her list, when a boy who looked no older than her came up beside her. He had aristocratic features, platinum blonde hair, and startling grey eyes. _

_"You look confused." He said. "Do you need any help?" _

_Hermione was relieved. She had been looking for the book for quite a while now. "Yes please." She replied. "I can't find this book." She indicated which book she needed on the list._

_He smiled. "I had trouble finding that one too." He said. "It's right over here." He led her to the back of the store and picked up a book on the bottom shelf. "Here." He said, handing it to her. _

_"Thank you so much." Hermione said taking the book. "My name's Hermione Granger by the way."_

_"Draco Malfoy." He said, holding out his hand for her to shake._

_Just then, a man who was much older than Draco, but looked very similar to him came up to them. _

_"Draco! Do not touch her. She is filth. A mudblood. Can't you see?" he said, giving Hermione a disgusted look. Hermione became confused. 'Mudblood'? What was that?_

_Draco glanced at the man before looking back to Hermione. He did not say anything, just looked at her. His eyes held none of the malice or disgust that the man's eyes did. He looked apologetic and sad._

_He looked down and said "Yes Father." He turned and walked to his father, who gave Hermione one last look of disgust before walking away. Just as he was about to walk out of the store, Draco turned back to Hermione and smiled. That one smile said it all. _

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

After that day, they never spoke again, except to insult each other. Draco had seemed to become the exact double as his father and Hermione was nothing but a mudblood to him. Or so she thought.

After a while, Draco started acting different. They were subtle differences, but differences nonetheless. He stopped calling her 'mudblood', the word she soon learned to hate. Sometimes she would catch him looking at her in the hallways, across classrooms or the Great Hall during meals. They weren't hateful stares. They were something else, something that she couldn't quite pinpoint. Sometimes he would even smile at her. Small smiles, which were quickly replaced with smirks, but smiles nonetheless.

It was around this time that Hermione realized that Draco wasn't as alike as his father as she first thought. He wasn't evil, like his father, and didn't seem to hate her like she first thought he did.

As these thoughts were running through her head, she came to a conclusion. He wasn't like his father at all. He was the same Draco that she had first met that fateful day in Flourish and Blotts. He always had been.

No, she could not doubt that he loved her. He kissed her again. This time slower, gentler. There was no rush. This time, she responded to his kisses. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with everything she had in her. They eventually broke apart, breathing heavily.

"Say it." She said. "I need to hear you say it."

He smiled, a real smile. " I love you Hermione." was all he said.

She smiled back. "I love you too."

Some things never changed.


End file.
